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About Ashland tidings. (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919 | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1912)
PAGE TWO Ashland Tidings SEMMYEEKLY. ESTABLISHED 1876. Issued Mondays and Thursdays Bert K. Greer, - Editor and Owner W. II. Gillis, ... City Editor W. E. Barnes, - Business Manager SIBSCKH'TIOX RATES. One Year $2.00 Six Months '. 1.00 Three Months 50 1'ayuble in Advunce. TELEPHONE 39 Advertising rates on application. First-class job printing facilities. Equipments second to none in the Entered at the Ashland, Oregon, Postoffice as second-class mail mat ter. Ashland, Ore., Monday, July 1, 1012 THE AMKKICAX FETICH. Republican! Democratic! What a spell these names throw over an adherent when attached to his or ganization. They are his political fetich. How he hates the one and loves the other. How he canonizes and views with alarm. Party success has been too long the object in holding elections. Me"n have fought for that instead of good government. Party regularity has been too long a criterion for political virtue. Party leaders, while honoring Gladstone as the greatest English statesman, notwithstanding he scarce ly knew one campaign what party he would lead the next, yet heap exe cration on those independent enough to challenge wrongful acts in their party. Party regularity ' has been long synonymous with spoils, but bears no true relation to principle. Thought ful persons are coming to see that. As prejudicial scales fall fxom their eyes they incline more to the advo cacy of principle than to party fealty. The present crisis in the republi can party is but the result of a wise awakening and augurs well for the future. Party principles change with the ever-shifting control of political or ganizations. That which exemplified virtue last year becomes the tool of corruption this, Spoils has displaced principle. Yhv Khnillrl tint RVtravu !((. i. . v i n u having interest only in good govern ment, cling to that which no lunger serves the ends of justice? "The world does move." The hour demands that the old party fetich be destroyed. It is no longer suited to the changing needs of a progressive 1 republic). ,'TWO ItOOSHVKLT PIUXCU'LEH. There are two great principles In volved In the coining campaign. First: Shall the people have the right to rule, and, therefore, in the exercise of their deliberate judgment rortrol thejr government and their ,j governmental BRents? The old line poiitioiuiltt oppose this issue bpcaum in Rs exercise there is ho iiw or place for them. The poli ticiahs have learned to rule through party nominations and organization, and ruling have controled the gov ernment and governmental agents in their own interest. Through such control special privileges have been granted and exercised by the ruling class for the ruling class. The peo ple as a whole have been discrimi nated against in the interest of the few. Under the representative system and universal ballot the people may rule. The question is, will they do it? If so, it will only be by destroy ing the system by which the poli ticians have been allowed to usurp the prerogative of the people. Second: So to rule as to bring about not only political but social and industrial justice. Theoretically the functions of gov rnment are to maintain equity and justice among the people. When the system has been so revised as to al low every Individual in the govern ment to have the same power in con troling governmental agents the only insentive in directing the government will be the execution of its proper functions. THE DEAF TELEPHONE. If anybody told you that deaf mutes are now enjoying long tele phone conversations about nothing In particular, like the rest of us, would you believe It? It's a fact, though. They press buttons that flash an electric alphabet at the other end of the line and get the message rather better than ordinary folk. We can do about anything these days. THE ISSUES. One of the foremost, if not the foremost, plank in the national re publican platform four years ago was a declaration for tariff revision. It was somewhat ambiguous. Some contended that a revision of the tariff meant nothing unless it was definitely stated whether the re vision should be up or down. The party and the candidate for a time were silent on that point. As the campaign progressed an insistent de mand arose for the elucidation of that plank. It was apparent the rank and file of the party demanded re vision downward and would be satis fied with nothing less. When it was sure that the success of the ticket depended upon a plain official inter pretation of the tariff declaration, Mr. Taft stated in his campaign speeches that to him "revision" meant revision downward. There upon the rank and file of republicans acquiesced and advocated the elec tion of Mr. Taft. In the judgment of the writer there is no question but that Mr. Taft would have been defeated but for his timely interpretation of the tariff plank. The people took him at his word and elected him. The next session of congress took up the matter of tariff revision and adopted the Payne-Aldrich tariff bill. It failed to express the wish of the party for revision downward it of fered a shell instead of a substance and the progressive republican ele ment waited silently in the hope that Mr. Taft would veto it. He lacked courage, or disposition, and approved the bill. The national platform declared that tariff revision should be based upon' the difference between Ameri can and European labor plus "a reasonable profit to American manu facturers." The Payne-Aldrich bill provided, on the woolen schedule, a tariff of 48 per cent. An investiga tion showed that the difference be tween American and European wages in the manufacture of woolen goods was about 18 per cent in favor of the European manufacturer. The tariff of 4S per cent gave to American la bor 18 per cent protection and added to the protection of the manufactur er 30 per cent. The American people believed that the woolen manufac turers had grown strong enough to compete with European manufactur ers on profitable terms If protection enough was afforded them to offset the difference between the cost of American and European Jwbor. They believed that whatever protection was provided for th manufacturer above' that would be levied against the coni!ttier and. be added to the profits of the manufacturer. They considered 30 per cent too much, un necessary and unjust. When Mr. Taft failed to disap prove the bill thousands of republi cans concluded that he had gone over to the reactionary flfid privileged class, and when he declared the Payne-Aldrich bill the best tariff leg- isiitiiuii ever auopiea, n:..ons of re publicans parted from his way. (,We use the woolen schedule 0r.y as an example! many other schedules huv Ih8 suine tendency-, and many oilier issues have arisen, vital, but which we do not here discuss.) So the party came to the forks of the tariff road some two years ago. Mr. Taft and his followers stood pat on the ground of high protection, while progressive republicans Insist ed that his position was untenable. In the campaign just closed for republican presidential nomination eleven states expressed their senti ment through direct preferential primaries. They cast two million four hundred thousand republican votes. Eight hundred thousand of these were cast for Mr. Taft and his policies and one million six hundred thousand against him. Thus, wher ever the republicans had an oppor tunity to express themselves, the ver dict was two to one in favor of pro gressive principles and expressing the belief that Mr. Taft was a reac tionary. Notwithstanding that, party bosses forced his nomination by unfair and crooked methods. Through a cor rupt organization and manipulation by the national committee which in no sense represented the true senti ment of the majority, having been elected four years ago and prior to the inauguration of those progressive Issues a majority for progressive policies and a progressive candidate was Inverted into a majority for re actionary policies and Mr. Taft. This manipulation was accomplished through naked theft and in contra ventlon of the wishes of two-thirds of the party, If the results In the eleven states referred to can be taken as an Index. The thing now to be considered. and which Is being generally consld ered by progressive republicans, is whether party success shall Btand higher than principle's. Mr. Roose velt and his followers have said no, ASHLAND and In so saying have effected a split in the republican organization. Whatever view republicans may take of the ambitions of Mr. Roose velt or Mr. Taft of the interested ness or disinterestedness of either the fact remains that the party is split upon vital issues and that the severance is apparently complete. The writer looks upon the imme diate split in the convention as but a visible demonstration or culmina tion of a deflection that has been persistent and deep, growing strong er and more persistent each hour, since President Taft gave his ap proval to the last republican tariff measure. It is stronger now than Mr. Taft can successfully breast, and whether a third candidate Is put in the field or the Issue is left between the republican and democratic can didates, Mr. Taft will be defeated. It is an issue too vital to be over come with a spiked flail or partisan ship. v WHAT CAN PUBLICITY ACCOM- PLISH? Light is one of the strongest pre ventives of crime. Increasing the il lumination will do more to reform a street than doubling the force of po licemen. A light hung in front of a safe is better protection than a watchman, for all the passers-by are transformed into watchmen. So it is the obscurity with which the trans action of our great corporations are covered that allows those acts of which the citizen justly complains. Aroused and informed public opin ion is a force which is almost irre sistible. As a witness before the sen ate committee aptly said, "No one ex cept a fool disregards public opin ion." It forced Elizabeth to revoke the charters of many monopolies she had granted, it brought on the Civil War, it forced the United States into war with Spain, it forced the settle ment of the recent textile strike in New England. There are hundreds, even thou sands of such cases in history. Where the great mass of the people has had no direct voice in the gov ernment, wise rulers have always made concessions to public feeling. The influence of this force is shown in our everyday life. Many men lead decent lives from no higher motives than the desire for the approbation of their fellows. Other thousands abstain from open evil from fear of public censure alone. This has al ways been true of individuals and now the corporation has fallen into line. It also seeks to gain approba tion and to avoid blame, and Is show ing a new deference to the opinion of its patrons. Instances could be multiplied from the daily papers. A few years ago the Long Ishland Railroad wished to ralso its rates. It bought columns of the newspapers to explain the finan cial reasons which made such action necessary. The same course was taken by the management of the Hudson river tubes, when the fare irom New Jersey to New York w9s incresaed a few months ag3: twenty years ago similar corporations Would il VP)' have dreamed of paying for advertising space to placate the pub lic. Now nearly every great corpora tion has a publicity agent to spread all that is. favorable, and to offer a plausible explanation of occurrences which might cuse unfavorable com ment. From "Big Business and the Citizen," by Holland Thompson in the American Review of Reviews for July. FIRE SEASON BELAYED. I-iuto Rains in Mountains Afford For est Protection. The fire season this year will be delayed considerably, according to M. L. Erickson, supervisor of the Crater national forest, owing to the large amount of moisture which has fallen' this month. The season gen erally opens in earnest by July 1, but owing to rains in the mountains the season Is not expected to open until July 15 and probably not to any de gree until August. Two years ago when the fires were bad the season opened about July 1, but at that time with a vengeance. They started in several parts of the forest at nearly the same time. Last year they started ouly occasionally and were controlled before they could spread over any considerable area. This year with more guards on the job the loss should be very small. Mosquitoes invaded the churches of Vancouver, Wash., last Sunday in such numbers that in some instances te meetings had to be cut short. During a storm Monday night, lighting entered the power house at the University of Oregon and dam aged some of the machinery. La Grande is to hold a Chautauqua lasting ten days. One of the speak ers will be John Mitchell, the labor leader. The 3-cent fare proposition is again before the Portland city coun cil. The Tidings is for sale at W. M. Foley's Drug Store, 17 East Main St. TIDINGS SALE OF INDULGENCES. The Tidings editor has just had a profitable visit with our townsman, D. Perozzl. He talked about his visit to Switzerland, and compared some of the provisions of law there with the laws of the United States. The one we deal with here Is that of im munity. " There are no cash fines in Switzer land. There Is a jail penalty for every abrasion of law. For example: Ashland has a speed law. From a certain point on Main street to a certain point on the Boul evard it is unlawful to run more than ten miles an hour. . The law is estab lished for the protection of life and limb. The other day a citizen vio lated the speed ordinance, was haled up and compelled to pay five dollars for immunity from the law. In Switzerland he would have been sent to jail. Five-dollar fines are Inconsequen tial sums. Not enough to deter those inclined to do it from jeopard izing the life or limbs of citizens, who have equal rights to the streets with themselves. .The writer does not complain of the citizen who .exceeded the speed limit, for he has done it himself, nor of the magistrate who administered the penalty. He bu; administered the law as Bet down in the ordinance. It is likely if the minimum was about thirty or sixty days in jail, neither that citizen, nor the writer, nor any other citizen would violate the speed law. If the law is necessary for the pro tection of life and limb, the peanlty should be a sure deterrent against those inclined to violate it. A jail sentence would do that. The main complaint Martin Luther had against the old church was its practice in the sale of indul gences. That was the foundation of protestantism. There should be no money license allowed for abrasion of church law. This is a new view to us, we just now take it, but It does seem that cash fines are but a form of sale of indulgences. Two years after a twenty-nine million dollar fine had been imposed on the Standard Oil Company, for a proven violation of the Sherman law, the penalty was set aside, and the abuse continues. No doubt a two years' jail jsettjence for the officers responsible for the violation would have put a perma nent check on the practice. The cash sale of indulgences will never bring about 'civic virtue and justice. That In our view at this writing. Think It over. A proper presidential costume for next inauguration day would not be the customary silk hat, frock coat. etc., but a pugilist's fighting clip and tights. BBBEiHnmiiffiii JlimiMiMMJI I1 III III l'lm'-llt-t''l!'l''wTfflfT;jlllJM.flj nil Extraordinary 1 OF Women's linen Suits WW .jPliNliljllll,JI-A .J 1 1 p tiARniij 1 1 ti 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 PureMounlainWaterlce Reduced Prices on Ice FOR SEASON OF 1912 S ave money by purchasing 500, 1,000, 2,000 up to 5,000 pounds. This is the cheapest way. to buy your ice. J Delivery every day except Sundays. ! ASHLAND ICE AND STORAGE CO. t 1 TELEPHONE 108 WUHHW t 1 1 1 1 1 THE FARMER. The farmer-rs the only member of the Ancient and Amalgamated Order of Coupon Clippers who works at the trade for any length of time. He is the only citizen of this republic who doesn't havn t v,w.i uaiiM Up LLy court with $14,000 in liabilities and assets consisting of a second-hand register and a Round Oak stove. The .aimer lives longer than the editor, because his life is brightened by an occasional square meal. There are other differe can stand on the four corners and express his opinion of the new Meth odist minister with perfect impunity, but if the editor suggests that the aforementioned minister is a victim of mental paralysis, an outraged con gregation will make his subscription Iln 1 1- III. . "ol uj ime a coal sieve. The old fashioned farmer, who used to get up at 4 a. m. and guide the erring footsteps of a corn ploy until dark is now a painful reminiscence. Few farmers stay on the farm after they are fifty, preferring to move to town and loan money to the banks. They are thus able to look every man in the face, and Invite him to seek a warm, moist climate in case an argu ment arises. The farmer used to vote the way his father did, but he is getting over It. He is also getting over the habit of throwing large rolls of currency into propositions that promise 100 per cent dividends the first year. The cartoonist who por trays the farmer in chin whiskers and cowhide boots ought to get off Main street once a year and wise up. The new brand of farmer rides around in an automobile, smokes 10- .ejlt fiKars and lives fn a hnnuo th.,t - " " W 11 . J I. 1 1 1 1 1. makes the ordinary town residence look ljke a portable corncrib. He is tiie rea) autocrat of this republic.. The citizens of Oregon City are to hold a meeting on Monday night to discuss he proposed new city char ter, t If stealing cherries is a crime, hooking" watermelons deserves cap ital punishment. One-man power is exemplified at Baltimore and Mr. Bryan is the man. Radical Reductions on Every Suit in the Store Women who wish lo be stylishly dressed at very little cost will be delighted with these handsome Linen Suits. Just the garment lor the coming warm weather. Women's Tan Linen Suits in the latest style effect, $5.00 value at $3.00 Women's Tan Linen Suits, sizes 34, 36, 38, 40, neatly made up as high class tailored suits, $8 values at .... $5.00 Women's Tan Linen Suits, made up of extra good quality linen, regularly sold at $10.00, now at $6.50 Women's White Linen Suits, $5.00 and.$G 00 values at.... $3.00 Women's White Linen Suits, handsomely made cuff's and collars, trimmed, $10.00 values at $6 00 Women's Tan Outing Suits, special at $5.00 Store will be open July Fourth from 7 to 11 A. If. Vaaoe Monday, July 1, 1912. coupon books. Issued for I, 1 1 1 1 III I II I .l V. V. HAWLEY Contractor and Builder Remodeling and repairing, etc. 25 years' experience. Address P. O. Box 174 or TELEPHONE 30. OPERA HOUSE BILLIARD PARLOR Cigars, Tobacco, Candy and Soft Drinks J. P. Sayle & Son . Successors to Iluger & Sayle. Ashland Restaurant Roast Chicken Dinner 25c Good Cooking Try Oar Meals 0 NORTH MAIN. Phone i29 27 Main Si. C. II. GILLETTE Real Estate, Loans, Rentals, Conveyancing SEE ME BEFORE RUYIXG. Attention, Wood Consumers Sound dry red fir and yel low pine, lG-inch block body wood, delivered in your woorl shed in orders for not less thfln 30 tiers to a place, at $2.25 per M'er E. J. MAIIAN Leave orders at oflW 90,(7 East Main st., or phone 1G8. Sale 9